Suze Orman used to be Susie but she wanted be more powerfully herself. Tracee Sioux used to be Tracee Sue Jones and then Tracee Sue Simmons but didn’t want to change names with marital status. Check out So Sioux Me if you’re curious how I resolved my child-bride/divorce naming delemma.
Do you say your chosen full name in a powerful way? In the last chapter of Women & Money Suze Orman challenges us to say our full names as if we are proud of who we are and what we do. Why should that take so much courage for women?
[...] Who Are You? [...]
[...] Who Are You? [...]
My family name, which I kept when I married, is a difficult one for a kid to walk around with. Still, there are many worse. After having survived teasing and painful sensitivity, I now think my name says exactly what I want it to say about me.
I am very attached to and proud of my name. Maybe it’s because I’ve always had to correct people: Susanna, not Suzanne, not Susan; with an s, not a z, no h. I’ve invested a lot of time and effort in defending my identity.
However, I was fine changing my last name from something that was also always misspelled to something simple when I got married. I like my family, I liked my former last name, but I was ready to simplify. Plus, my husband has a great last name.
I have a friend who has changed her name 3 times throughout her life (first name twice, last name once). Each time she embraced a new identity and left an old one behind. Her current name is, I think, her happiest one.